Department of Health and Human Services 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces the new date for the Bidder's Conference for the Medicare Clinical Laboratory Services Competitive Bidding Demonstration project.

This notice announces the 18th meeting of the American Health Information Community in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. No. 92-463, 5 U.S.C., App.) The American Health Information Community will advise the Secretary and recommend specific actions to achieve a common interoperability framework for health information technology (IT).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a proposed collection of information has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

In compliance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects to be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Proposed Collection: Title: Pilot Study for the National Children's Study, Type of Information Collection Request: NEW, Affected entities: Households and individuals. Types of respondents: People potentially affected by this action are pregnant women, women age 18-49 years of age, their husbands or partners, and their children who live in selected areas within the seven (7) National Children's Study Vanguard sites enumerated below. A small number of health care professionals, community leaders, and child care personnel are also potential respondents. Frequency of Response: On occasion. See burden table for estimated number of annual responses for each respondent. Need and use of information collection: The purpose of this Study is to pilot test protocols, policies, and procedures for the National Children's Study (NCS) with the goal of improving the efficiency of study procedures and enhancing the subsequent implementation of the NCS. The NCS is a long- term cohort study of environmental influences on child health and development authorized under the Children's Health Act of 2000. The Act specifies a broad definition of environment, including biologic, chemical, physical, and psycho-social factors and authorizes NICHD to plan, develop, and implement a prospective cohort study, from birth to adulthood, to evaluate the effects of those exposures on child health and human development. This data collection will test procedures for population-based sampling and recruitment of pregnant women and women of child-bearing age, test study logistics, and estimates of subject burden, and evaluate data collection strategies including interviews and acquisition of biologic and environmental samples. In addition, participants will also be asked to provide qualitative and quantitative input on their feelings regarding participation in this Study, to enhance the lessons that can be learned and applied to improve the efficiency of the full NCS. Further details pertaining to the NCS background and planning, including the NCS Research Plan, can be found at: https://nationalchildrensstudy.gov. This Pilot Study will be carried out in the seven NCS ``Vanguard'' locations previously selected as the initial study sites. These sites are Orange County, CA; Duplin County, NC; Queens County, NY; Montgomery County, PA; Salt Lake County, UT; Waukesha County, WI; and the aggregate of Lincoln, Pipestone, and Yellow Medicine Counties, MN and Brookings County, SD. This data collection is intended to begin with household enumeration and enrollment of women, proceed through pregnancy and birth, and continue with follow-up of children for up to 21 years. This application is for the first three years of data collection, which includes data collection through the visits at which some of the children will be 24 months old. Details of data collections beyond this period will be addressed at the time of renewal or in future applications. Women who are pregnant will be eligible for participation if, at the time of household enumeration and screening, they are within the first trimester of pregnancy. Women who are not pregnant will be eligible if, at the time of household enumeration and screening, they are 18-49 years of age, are neither surgically nor medically sterile, and can participate in the consent process. A subset of age-eligible women with a high likelihood of pregnancy (e.g., planning to become pregnant) will be enrolled to enable assessment of peri-conceptional exposures, should they become pregnant. The remainder of the study population will comprise women enrolled early in pregnancy. The seven centers combined will follow approximately 1000 infants born to women enrolled in the first year of this Pilot Study. Infants born to women enrolled in this Pilot Study but born after the eligibility period for the Pilot will be eligible for enrollment in the full NCS. The schedule of participant contacts for this data collection includes home visits, clinic visits, and phone contacts, and is described in the NCS Research Plan: https://nationalchildrensstudy.gov. Home visits before and during pregnancy will include collection of interview data, environmental specimens such as air and dust samples, maternal and paternal biospecimens such as blood and hair samples, and a brief physical examination including anthropometric measures and blood pressure. During pregnancy, women will receive up to three fetal ultrasounds to assess fetal growth. At birth, cord blood and placental samples will be collected and the infant will receive a brief developmental assessment. During infancy, home visits will include collection of interview data, environmental specimens, biospecimens from the infant and parents, a brief physical examination of the infant, and assessment of infant development and parental-infant interactions. Burden statement: The public burden for this Study will vary depending on the eligibility and pregnancy status of potential participants at the time of household screening. Women who are not pregnant at the time of screening will have varying burden depending on their likelihood of pregnancy and, should they become pregnant, the time to pregnancy. The burden for women enrolled during pregnancy will depend on when during pregnancy they are identified and enrolled in the Study. The table provides an annualized average burden per person for each stage of the Pilot Study over the three year period of the Study.

Under the provision of Section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for review and approval of the information collection listed below. This proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on May 9, 2007, page 26399 and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comments were received. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment. The National Institutes of Health may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Proposed Collection: Title: Program Assessment and Evaluations for NIEHSAsthma Research. Type of Information Collection Request: NEW. New and Use of Information Collection: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Division of Extramural Research and Training (DERT). DERT, with contract support from Battelle Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation, is examining the impact of its research portfolio. Focusing specifically on one portion of the research portfolioasthma researchDERT proposes to supplement extant data sources with a primary data collection activity. The purpose of the proposed primary data collection is to obtain information from grantees regarding the impact of their funded asthma research in the short-, intermediate-, and long-term. This will be done through a survey of grantees that includes questions about the impact of funding on career development, the field of asthma research, public attitudes, commercial product development, clinical practice, business and industry practices, and long-term human and environmental health. Frequency of Response: One time. Affected Public: Individuals. Type of Respondents: Individuals receiving asthma funding. A 15-minute, close- ended, multi-mode (web and paper) survey will be administered to the universe of NIEHS-funded asthma researchers (N=179) and comparison agency asthma researchers (N=1371). Comparison agencies include other NIH institutes (NICHD, NIAID, NIA, NHLBI), the CDC, AHRQ, and the EPA. The survey development process included formative interviews with a small sample of NIEHS asthma researchers. The annual reporting burden is as follows: Estimated Number of Respondents: 1550; Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1; Average Burden Hours per Response: 15 minutes; and Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours Requested: 387.5. The annualized cost to respondents is estimated at $13,039.38. There are no Capital Costs to report. There are no Operating or Maintenance Costs to report.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a proposed collection of information has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a proposed collection of information has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gives notice as required by 42 CFR 83.12(e) of a decision to evaluate a petition to designate a class of employees at Kellex/Pierpont, Jersey City, New Jersey, to be included in the Special Exposure Cohort under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. The initial proposed definition for the class being evaluated, subject to revision as warranted by the evaluation, is as follows: Facility: Kellex/Pierpont. Location: Jersey City, New Jersey. Job Titles and/or Job Duties: All workers. Period of Employment: January 1, 1943 through December 31, 1953.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a proposed collection of information has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the PRA), Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on the information collection provisions of FDA's recordkeeping and records access requirements for food facilities.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is providing notice of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between FDA and the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). The purpose of this MOU is to facilitate FDA's collaboration with AAFCO in the AAFCO New and Modified Ingredient Definition Process by clarifying the responsibilities of FDA and AAFCO in defining feed ingredients, in providing mechanisms for resolving disputes that may arise, and in providing mechanisms for modifying the ingredient definition process when required.

This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) allow the renewal of the generic information collection project: ``Voluntary Customer Surveys Generic Clearance for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.'' In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), AHRQ invites the public to comment on this proposed information collection. This proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on August 3, 2007 and allowed 60 days for public comment. No comments were received. A 30-day Federal Register notice was published on October 11th, 2007 to allow an additional 30 days for public comment. No comments were received. However, changes to the estimated annual respondent burden hours and the methodologies that will be used for the data collection require an additional 30 days for public comment.